WASHINGTON POST: Hong Kong’s government launched a second round of “public consultations” on political reform on Wednesday, even as it signaled its refusal to yield ground to demands for greater democracy, and as police threatened to arrest the leaders of last year’s protest movement.
The Chinese government in Beijing laid out in detail last August how it wants elections for the semi-autonomous territory’s chief executive to take place in 2017, allowing universal suffrage but demanding control over who can run in the election, a condition that infuriates pro-democracy groups…
The start of the consultation process comes a day after the Hong Kong government submitted a report to Beijing laying out the major events during the two-month-long pro-democracy protests, and with the government and democrats as far apart as ever… (more)
